On February 24th, the Micro Drama Working Committee of the China Network Audiovisual Association issued the "Self discipline Convention on Safeguarding the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Actors and Staff in the Micro Drama Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Self discipline Convention"), issuing a self-discipline initiative to all micro drama actors and staff, employers, production units, filming bases, and broadcasting platforms, clarifying the five requirements of "agreeing to leave marks and confirm responsibilities, paying salaries on time and in full, preventing risks and ensuring safety, strictly regulating the employment of children, and providing collaborative services to protect their rights and interests". The first batch of 38 units signed the "Self discipline Convention". Previously, micro dramas have become a popular track in the online audio-visual field due to their short duration, fast plot pace, short production cycle, and high dissemination efficiency. The market size continues to expand, and the number of people entering the industry continues to increase. Behind the booming scene of the industry, some problems are gradually becoming prominent. The phenomenon of non-standard employment and lack of protection of rights and interests often occurs, and the legitimate rights and interests of performers are infringed upon. In this context, what is the significance of the release of the "Self discipline Convention"? What other effects can it have? The reporter conducted an interview on this matter. According to statistics from the National Radio and Television Administration, there will be 33000 short dramas broadcasted online in 2025, with a market size exceeding 100 billion yuan and a domestic user base of nearly 700 million. The booming industry has led to an explosive growth in the number of practitioners. The "2025 Micro Drama Industry Ecological Insight Report" shows that the main production links of the micro drama industry have driven 1.333 million job positions, forming a full chain job matrix covering screenwriters, directors, operations and other links. Under the prosperous supply and demand situation, micro dramas have grown from emerging content forms to an undeniable cultural industry force. But behind the rapid development of the industry, there are also non-standard employment practices within a certain scope. Mr. Li, a group actor who has participated in the filming of multiple micro dramas, previously told reporters that he mostly joined the group through intermediaries, who usually only informed him of the filming location, approximate duration, and daily salary amount. As for the specific job content, overtime pay calculation method, and division of responsibility for filming accidents, there was no clear explanation. He once participated in the filming of an urban themed short drama. The originally agreed filming time was 8 hours per day, but after joining the group, he was required to shoot continuously for 14 hours. His demand for overtime pay was rejected by the production team on the grounds of "verbal agreement does not include overtime pay". After a dispute, due to the lack of evidence, it could only be left unresolved. Payment arrears are also one of the problems in the micro drama industry. Ms. Shen, a screenwriter of a certain micro drama, revealed to reporters that she once wrote a micro drama script for a newly established production agency, and agreed to pay the full payment within 7 working days after the script was delivered. However, the other party repeatedly delayed receiving the script, citing reasons such as "platform not settling payment" and "production overspending", and it took six months to settle the payment. The lack of security measures poses a certain degree of risk to the personal safety of actors and crew members in micro dramas. Journalists have found through reviewing public reports that due to the short production cycle and strict cost control of micro dramas, some production teams have neglected prevention measures and the safety of cast and crew members in high-risk filming stages in order to meet deadlines and save expenses. In some high-risk shooting scenes such as combat, high-altitude stunts, explosions, etc., the lack of professional protective equipment and the absence of professional supervisors often occur. It is worth noting that the "Self discipline Convention" released this time has provided clear responses to the above-mentioned issues. In response to the problems of unclear employment rights and responsibilities, delayed salary payments, and other non-standard issues, the "Self Discipline Convention" proposes that both parties should negotiate and clarify the job content, working hours, salary standards, payment cycles and methods, breach of contract responsibilities, and compensation in the form of paper or online graphic and video formats before employment; The employer shall pay the remuneration of the performers on time and in full according to the agreement. In response to the safety issues of personnel in high-risk filming tasks such as fighting, explosions, diving, and high-altitude stunts (such as aerial stunts) in micro dramas, the "Self Discipline Convention" proposes that professional personnel should be arranged to supervise the entire filming process; It is also required to ensure the rest time of performers. As a customary reference, the relevant person in charge of the Micro Drama Working Committee of the China Network Audiovisual Association stated in an interview at the beginning of the release of the "Self Discipline Convention" that the "Self Discipline Convention" aims to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of practitioners, regulate industry employment behavior, and create a healthy and orderly industry ecology. So, what is the effectiveness of the Self Discipline Convention? During the interview, Zhen Jingshan, Deputy Director of Beijing Xingquan Law Firm, pointed out that the "Self Discipline Convention" was issued by the Micro Drama Working Committee of the China Network Audiovisual Association and belongs to industry self-discipline norms. Its effectiveness relies on the self-discipline of the signing parties and internal supervision of the industry, and does not exceed or violate relevant legal provisions. It can be used as evidence in litigation or arbitration to prove industry recognized standards or obligations that employers should fulfill. Sun Zhenghao, a lawyer from Tianjin Landing (Binhai) Law Firm, added that the Self Discipline Convention is not a law or administrative regulation and does not have legal enforceability. The labor contracts and service contracts of performers still need to comply with relevant provisions such as the Civil Code, Labor Law, and Labor Contract Law. He also stated that although the Self Discipline Convention cannot be directly used as a basis for safeguarding rights and making judgments, it can serve as a reference for industry practices and assist judicial organs in handling cases. The interviewed experts stated that the "Self discipline Convention" can serve as a code of conduct for the healthy development of the micro drama industry, and the emphasized content can provide substantial assistance for actors and crew members to protect their rights. In Zhen Jingshan's view, the substantive role of the Self Discipline Convention is reflected in three aspects. One is to reduce the difficulty of providing evidence. The "Self discipline Convention" guides industry entities to fix the negotiation process and results in a verifiable and traceable form, which helps to solve the difficulty of insufficient evidence for actors' rights protection; Secondly, clarifying the boundaries of rights and obligations, by defining key information such as job content and salary calculation, can help avoid disputes without evidence afterwards; The third is the system of labor cost sharing management and salary guarantee advocated by the Self Discipline Convention, which provides convenience for performers to apply for property preservation and compulsory enforcement, and helps to effectively solve related problems. In the opinion of the interviewed experts, the release of the "Self discipline Convention" is an "important step" towards standardizing employment behavior in the industry. Subsequently, relevant functional departments can accelerate the introduction of legally binding rules and regulations based on summarizing and absorbing the content of the Self Discipline Convention. ”In the interview, Zhen Jingshan stated that for units that sign the "Self discipline Convention", they should lead by example and urge the participants in the micro drama production chain to comply with the "Self discipline Convention" through forms such as requiring written commitments and reviewing and reporting documents. Zhen Jingshan suggested that industry associations can refine supporting measures and develop a "Model Text for Employment Contracts of Short Drama Actors", making the core provisions of the "Self discipline Convention" essential and guiding the entire industry to use it in a standardized manner. Sun Zhenghao put forward suggestions from the legislative and regulatory levels on the direction of improving the legal guarantee for the long-term governance of the micro drama industry. In his opinion, at the legislative level, the minimum protection standards for flexible workers can be clearly defined in accordance with the law, requiring the purchase of commercial insurance for labor relationship performers; At the regulatory level, relevant departments can strengthen joint law enforcement, establish a multi departmental linkage mechanism, set up complaint channels, and prevent industry related problems from the source through regulatory measures such as contract filing and performance supervision. Zhen Jingshan suggested establishing a more sound regulatory model, forming a closed-loop supervision before, during, and after the event. A combination of normalized supervision and special governance can be adopted to improve the content grading review and filing system, and establish a joint mechanism between content supervision review and labor supervision and law enforcement; Judicial authorities can also establish mechanisms such as "courts+trade unions+industry associations" for litigation and mediation in micro drama industry clusters, providing low-cost and efficient "one-stop" channels for actors and crew members to protect their rights. Journalist Notes: From a suspenseful detective drama in one episode to a series of urban fresh dramas in dozens of episodes, as the "light cavalry" of online literature, micro dramas quickly occupied the screen in a short period of time. But outside of the mobile phone screen, some actors and crew members of micro dramas may be in a "gray area" of rights protection. On February 24th, the Micro Drama Working Committee of the China Network Audiovisual Association released the "Self discipline Convention on Safeguarding the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Actors and Staff in the Micro Drama Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Self discipline Convention"), which was signed by the first batch of 38 institutions. To many people, this is just another industry document. But after the interview, I believe that this' Self discipline Convention 'came too timely. The speed of micro dramas is an advantage, but sometimes there are hidden dangers. Fast startup, fast production, fast cost recovery, and rapid industry development have brought in a rush of practitioners, but with it comes the "exhaust" of the industry's rapid development: problems such as overtime shooting, unpaid wages, and lack of security guarantees. It is precisely these practical issues that give this' Self discipline Convention 'significant practical significance. The five major initiatives of "confirming the responsibility for leaving traces, paying salaries on time and in full, preventing risks and ensuring safety, strictly regulating the employment of children, and providing collaborative services to protect rights and interests" are all aimed at the stubborn problems in the industry. Written agreements, clear duration, full salary payment, dedicated supervision in high-risk scenarios, and accompaniment by minors' guardians... each of these points highlights past irregularities. In my opinion, the 'Self Discipline Convention' is an important signal of a turning point in the development of the industry: micro dramas are no longer a barbaric area where everyone can 'take a handful', but are gradually moving towards standardization. Although it does not have legal enforceability, it has strong guiding value. It transforms the requirements scattered in laws such as the Civil Code, Labor Law, and Law on the Protection of Minors into specific standards that can be implemented, compared, and supervised in the micro drama industry. The healthy development of the micro drama industry relies on effective protection of the rights and interests of actors and crew members. As experts have pointed out, the release of the "Self discipline Convention" is an "important step" for the industry to move towards standardized development, and a "solid step" for the micro drama industry to achieve high-quality, sustainable and long-term development. (New Society)